Structuring the FDS year

Friends using Godly Play® and Faith & Play have found diverse ways to integrate, weave, or immerse storytelling into their religious education programs. (See Some Basic Tools for Teachers from Teachers on the Teacher's Toolbox page.) Committees doing the work of planning First Day School programming might educate parents or the meeting community as a whole about their decision to use Godly Play and Faith & Play (see Discernment of the meeting community). Some meetings have turned over their curriculum to Godly Play entirely, teaching each story two weeks in a row and developing a story calendar for the entire program year. Other meetings used a Godly Play or Faith & Play story at the beginning of a thematic unit, returning to that story as a reference and "home base" as they explore connected topics.

Together, Godly Play® and Faith & Play offer stories for religious education curriculums focusing on both Bible and Quaker faith and practice. Because many programs alternate between these two topics, the stories available can provide continuity to a First Day School program, as children are familiar with the method and classroom culture created there. For ideas about using Godly Play and Faith & Play as the main focus or occasional storytelling experience in First Day School, contact the Faith & Play Working Group of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting or Friends General Conference.